High-Octane

I just ran today. I slept terrible so at 5:00 I just got up and went out to run.

4/1/2013
Mile	Time	HR	HR %	Max HR
1	8:11:00	134	68%
2	7:57:00	143	74%
3	8:11:00	146	76%
4	7:51:00	143	74%
5	7:52:00	143	74%
6	8:00:00	143	74%
7	8:11:00	146	76%
8	8:09:00	150	79%
9	7:40:00	152	80%
10	7:48:00	153	81%	160
11	7:47:00	153	81%
12	7:12:00	161	87%	167
Total	94:49:00	147	77%
Pace	7:54:05
Ran Big Loop & Smallville (Clockwise)
Weather - 62 degrees, 82% humid
Target: 12 @ 8:00 Hills start on mile 8.

Proverbs 22:29: “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.”

I don't know what I was thinking today, I was supposed to cross-train but I just forgot what my schedule was and went out and ran. I must have been half asleep because I also forgot my light and after a half mile realized it and had to run back to the house to get it. That made this run 11 miles instead of the usual 10. I guess the good thing about being half asleep is it kept my HR lower than normal on this run. The weather was nasty though with drizzle and 66 degrees temperature.

4/2/2013
Mile	Time	HR	HR %	Max HR
1	8:49:00	118	57%
2	9:10:00	126	63%
3	8:55:00	127	63%
4	9:09:00	130	65%
5	9:01:00	131	66%
6	8:49:00	127	63%
7	9:03:00	128	64%
8	8:59:00	132	67%
9	8:47:00	135	69%
10	8:47:00	132	67%
11	8:54:00	137	70%
Total	98:23:00	129	65%
Pace	8:56:38
Ran Big Loop + to make 12
Weather - 66 degrees, 90% humid
Target: 10 @ 9:00

I hope it rains today!!!

James 5:18

Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

Tempo Run with a little of everything today. The weather changed again. It was 55 degrees, high humidity and pretty strong winds this morning.

My goal was to warm-up then run 3 miles @ 7:30, 3 miles @ 7:15 and then 3 miles @ 7:00 pace. You can see how the wind and uphill affected mile 8 but besides that everything was good (but hard :-)! I was really happy with the 6:30 9th mile finish.

4/3/2013
Mile	Time	HR	HR %
1.6 Miles @ 8:58 Pace - HR 137
1	7:29:00	143	74%
2	7:14:00	144	75%
3	7:29:00	145	76%	7:24:00
4	7:06:00	153	81%	144
5	7:08:00	157	84%
6	7:12:00	159	85%	7:08:40
7	7:14:00	161	87%	156
8	7:20:00	165	89%
9	6:30:00	166	90%	7:01:20
				164
1.3 Miles Slow Cool-Down
Total	64:42:00	155	82%
Pace	7:11:20
Where Run - Big Loop but just out and back toward old church, Clockwise
Weather - 55 degrees, 87% humidity, 15 MPH Wind
Target: Tempo Run 12 Miles, 1.5 @ 9:00 Pace, 3  @ 7:30, 3 @ 7:15, 3 @  7:00 Pace, 1.5 Miles @ 9:00 Pace

2 Timothy 4:1-22

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. ...

Evening Report:

Sarah (my wife) got a new Trek Road Bike today so we went for a 7 mile spin. I think this is the first time I've ridden my bike this year!

No running today so I thought I'd post some information about the marathon I'm hoping to run on April 21st. It is in Temple Texas (about 2 hours north from where I live). It's a point to point race with an average 10' drop per mile. The average low temperature for this day is 55 degrees. I'm hoping for a 50 degree day :-) The way the weather has been going lately it is more likely to be 65 degrees at the start.

This is the first running of The Army Marathon and it was created to honor our Soldiers and National Guardsmen on the anniversary of the "Shot Heard Around The World". It is a Boston Qualifier so I'm hoping with some luck I can hit my goal this time.

www.thearmymarathon.com

Here's a picture of the elevation chart and course route. I like the way they make the elevation drop look so drastic!

I tried a new method of running my long run today as described in McMillan Running. What is described is two different long runs, a "Steady State" Long Run and a "Fast Finish" Long Run. I'm sure most runners are familiar with the Steady State Run and that's what I did today. The other run is a little different which I am going to try next week. Here's a link to the article:

http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/articlePages/article/2

I approached this run a little differently than I have ever have before. I decided, because this article was talking about "steady state", to focus on effort and not pace. In other words, run by heart rate effort and not pace effort. With the hills I run my heart rate effort goes way up and down based on the grade of each hill. As you can see from my results my paces varied from 7:58 to 9:01 (with the exact HR). To me that seems like a big difference. I did intend, and manage to, push my HR up each lap by a little but making sure I stayed below 145 (oops, I just had to push a little at the end :-).

Now I wish I had more time to try these type of Long Runs. I would like to see what the outcome would be if I ran at a 145 HR throughout the run. Would my pace slow, could I maintain? This was by no means a "taxing" run. When I finished I was tired of being on my feet and I felt a little stiff but after my .25 mile cool-down I was walking away just fine.

4/5/2013
Mile	Time	HR	HR %
1	8:22:00	133	68%
2	8:38:00	135	69%
3	8:16:00	135	69%
4	8:12:00	137	70%
5	9:01:00	139	72%
6	8:06:00	137	70%
7	8:21:00	138	71%	8:25:09
8	8:05:00	138	71%	136
9	8:36:00	140	72%
10	7:58:00	139	72%
11	8:20:00	140	72%
12	8:51:00	143	74%
13	8:11:00	142	74%
14	8:22:00	142	74%	8:20:26
15	8:06:00	144	75%	141
16	8:26:00	144	75%
17	8:03:00	144	75%
18	8:20:00	145	76%
19	8:47:00	145	76%
20	8:17:00	144	75%
21	8:01:00	147	77%	8:17:09
.25 Miles Slow Cool-Down				145
Total	175:19:00	141	73%
Pace	8:20:54
Ran small loop 3X+ clockwise (Each Loop is 6.85 miles)
Weather Conditions - 43-53Âș, 65% Humidity, 6 MPH Wind
Target: 21 Miles - Steady State Long Run - Pace 8:30 &/Or Max HR 145 Note: This is the best I have ever managed my HR during a run.

Revelation 20:12-13 

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.

7 mile run @ 8:53 Pace

7 Mile Bike Ride - Slow 

It was really humid today at 92% and the temp was 62 degrees. I was a weaty mess. The wind was about 12 mph too so the run was not enjoyable.

I keep watching the long term forcast for Temple, Tx and today it predicts 45 degrees on raceday morning. The long term forcast is from today and out 25 days. This 45 degree prediction, on race day, is the lowest temperature forcasted for that whole period. Most mornings are predicted to be 60 degrees or above. I think they are just messing with my brain!  :-)

4/8/2013
Mile	Time	HR	HR %	Max HR
1 Mile @ 8:35 Pace - HR 120
1	8:01:00	135	69%
2	7:49:00	139	72%
3	8:05:00	137	70%
4	7:57:00	144	75%
5	8:00:00	149	78%
6	7:33:00	147	77%
7	7:28:00	148	78%
8	8:01:00	152	80%
9	7:37:00	150	79%
1 Mile @ 8:57 Pace - HR 144
Total	70:31:00	145	75%
Pace	7:50:07
Ran out Big Loop then Birdsong Loop and  back (Clockwise)
Weather - 62 degrees, 82% humid
Target: Marathon pace miles

Matthew 7:15

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Could the weatherman be a false prophet?

Slept in a little this morning and then went to the Gym for an easy workout:

4/9/2013

Total Miles: 6 3 Miles on the Elliptical 3 Mile Run on TM @ 7:30 Pace

Exodus 33:14

And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

Shorter/Faster Temp run today.

It felt good to get my legs moving a little faster although mile 3 was tough as it was a long gradual uphill that really took it out of me. I wasn't planning on running quite this fast but after the second mile I just decided to try and hold the speed throughout the run.

I'm taking off tomorrow and running 13 on Friday, then next week is really easy before the marathon so I'm basiclly done!

No worries about how I feel, there is nothing hurting, sore or really very tired. Whatever shape I'm in it's good for that level. I've been running about 55-60 miles each week, for the last 5-6 weeks. If I can get to this level next year and feel this good I think I can take it to another level....hopefully :-)

4/10/2013
Mile	Time	HR	HR %
1.6 Mile @ 8:55 Pace - HR 144
1	7:02:00	142	74%
2	6:54:00	159	85%
3	6:55:00	168	91%	6:57:00
4	6:56:00	173	95%	156
5	7:08:00	171	93%
6	6:49:00	172	94%	6:57:40
1 Mile Slow Cool-Down				172
Total	41:44:00	164	89%
Pace	6:57:20
Where Run - Small Loop & Smallville
Weather - 75 Degrees, 90% Humidity
Target: Tempo Run 8 Miles, 1 @ 9:00 Pace, 3  @ 7:15, 3 @  7:00 Pace, 1 Miles @ 9:00 Pace

Fast Finish Run but only 13 miles. The weather was perfect here in central Texas this morning at 45 degrees and 81% humidity, calm and clear. Today's run was very successful in regards to time and effort. With the Fast Finish Run I was supposed to run close to all-out for the last 1/4 mile. During that last quarter I ran well under 6:00 pace and hit and maintained a 5:05 pace for a while, until I started to feel like I might throw up...so I slowed down a little :-) No more hard stuff like this until after the marathon on the 21st. The weather forcast keeps bouncing from 45 degrees to 65 degrees. Today it say it's going to be 54.

I supprised myself on the last fast mile :-) but it did hurt :-(

4/12/2013
Mile	Time	HR	HR %	Max HR
2 Miles @ 8:58 Pace - HR 126
1	8:28:00	127	63%
2	8:30:00	133	68%
3	8:04:00	142	74%
4	7:55:00	142	74%
5	7:26:00	149	78%
6	7:34:00	152	80%
7	7:09:00	156	83%
8	7:12:00	160	86%
9	6:54:00	167	91%	170
10	6:15:00	170	93%	175
1.15 Miles Slow Cool-Down
Total	75:27:00	150	79%
Pace	7:32:42
Where Run - Big Loop but just out and back toward old church, Clockwise
Weather - 45 Degrees, 81% Humidity, Calm
Target: Fast Finish Run - 2 @ 9:00, 2 @ 8:30, 2 @ 8:00, 2 @ 7:30, 2 @ 7:15, 2 @ Below 7:00, 1 @ 9:00

Matthew 26:41

Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

5 easy

12 with 2 MP miles

8.8 Easy miles

4/17/2013
Mile	Time	HR	HR %	Max HR
1	8:54:00	125	62%
2	8:55:00	137	70%
3	8:38:00	131	66%
4	9:14:00	134	68%
5	9:15:00	135	69%
6	8:55:00	136	70%
7	8:45:00	137	70%
8	8:45:00	136	70%
.8 Mile Slow Cool-Down
Total	71:21:00	134	68%
Pace	8:55:07
Where Run - Small Loop & Smallville
Weather - 75 Degrees, 85% Humidity
Target: 8 MilesSlow Note: I got a strange twinge in my left calf at mile 8 on this run and on my run on Monday

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18 NIV

Mental Preparation For The Race On Sunday:

2 Timothy 1:7

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Here is my Pacing Plan for the Army Marathon:

Just an easy 4 mile run this morning in the great weather.

The weatherman now says it will be 47 degrees and 80% humidity at 6:30 am race time. I'm hoping I'm ready. My calf still had couple of instances where I could feel the twinge this morning. I hope it doesn't give me any problems. (It's odd that this just came on after all of my hard work and I was just jogging along at a 9:00 pace.)

I posted my planed race splits on Thursday's blog entry.

"A" Goal  =  3:25:00

"B" Goal  =  DNF

4/19/2013
Mile	Time	HR	HR %	Max HR
1	8:47:00	140	72%
2	8:45:00	130	65%
3	8:40:00	129	65%
4	8:18:00	142	74%
Total	34:30:00	135	69%
Pace	8:37:30
Where Run - Out & Back
Weather - 42 Degrees, 65% Humidity
Target: 3.5 Miles slow, .5 Mile @ 7:45 Still a little twinge in my left calf.

2 Chronicles 15:7

But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.

4.2 Easy miles w/4 30 sec striders @ HMP -  8:35 - HR 134

7 Miles Very Easy on Road Bike 

WOOO...HOOO... THE MONKEY IS OFF MY BACK!

BQ'D with 7+ MINUTES to Spare !!! .... I finally I feel like a real runner :-)

Well I guess the road to this marathon started in the middle of the Ft worth Marathon a couple of months ago. After missing the turn at the halfway point in that marathon I was pretty disappointed with myself. After a week or so of feeling sorry for myself I started looking for another race to run this spring. I couldn't really travel very far so I knew my options would be slim to none. By chance I ran across this marathon, The Army Marathon, which was going to be run in Temple, Texas. As you may know the weather in Texas this time of year can be very unpredictable and typically it's way too hot to run a marathon. I started looking at the typical weather patterns for late April and found that there was a slim chance of the temperature would be acceptable. As it turned out the weather was perfect at 49 degrees at the start of the race.

So the race started at 0630 (that's military talk) to try and beat some of the heat. It worked well as I think it was about 60 degrees when I finished the race. I decided to try a little different tactic on this race and lined up at the very back of the pack of runners. This was a small race with only about 600 racers finishing the race. By starting at the back I knew I would be forced to start out really slow. I had my pacing all worked out and on a laminated piece of paper to follow throughout the race.

Mile 1 came in a little slower than pace plan because of the crowd but I knew it was okay and I just ran easy until the field opened up. Both mile 2 and mile 3 also came in a few seconds slower that pace plan but I didn't want to push very hard as my heart rate seemed too high for just beginning the race. It was reading over 150 and typically on a run at this pace it reads about 130-135. I guess the race adrenaline was kicked in. At mile 4 I decided to go ahead and push to hit my paces and see what my HR did. Mile 4 was just a couple of seconds longer than planned. Mile 5 was the first mile I managed to be under the plan but only by 3 seconds. Mile 6, 7 and 8 all came in closer to pace but still most of them were a few seconds slow. I was feeling pretty good for these first 8 miles. I talked to everyone I could, I slowed to a walk at every water station and took a drink and made jokes with all of the support people. I was amazed at the support and spectators on this course especially knowing there were only about 600 runners. Many of the people at the water stations were military so I continued to thank them for serving (our nation...not water :-). Back to the race: I believe it was on mile 8 that my left calf reminded me that it was there and might just pinch me really hard but the twinge went away very quickly. Luckily the twinge never bothered me again throughout the race. I don't know what it is but at about mile 8 or 9 of every race I seem to get an energy boost and mile 9 came in several seconds below pace and my HR actually dropped. At this point in the race I remember thinking, "I feel really good for running 9 miles but is it because I'm over my pace and will I still BONK at mile 18-20?" I told myself, "Don't do something stupid...just keep on the plan and run easy and maybe I will be able to squeeze out a 3:30 and a BQ". Even though I felt good up until now I fully expected to really slow down after 18 to 20 miles. So with all this mental conversation going on in my head II slowed down on mile 10 to make sure I didn't do something stupid. I ended up running mile 10 at 30 seconds slower than the plan. Finally I think I began to relax and cruised through miles 11, 12 and 13 closer to plan pace and feeling very good. I did notice at the halfway point that I was actually about a full minute off my overall pace plan to hit a 3:25:00 finish time.

I have never felt this good at the midpoint of a marathon, so now at mile 14 I decided to start the race! With my HR still hovering around 150 for the first 13 miles I thought, "Now I can begin to push a little, I know I can run 10-15 miles with a HR of 160-165 before I begin to fall apart". Mile 14 came in -7 seconds, mile 15/-5, 16/-5 and mile 17/-10. I think it was in mile 17 where I thought to myself, and actually said out loud, "I've got this!". I felt relived for a moment...but then remembered how quickly I had hit the wall on my previous races. Mile 18 is the toughest mile on the course and my 8:34 time showed it. As I was running that mile I was thinking to myself, "If anyone was watching my splits right now they would think, ...Uh-Oh here come the BONK...He's not going to make it!" But I kinda laughed and said to myself, "I've got this! I just plodded along on that long uphill mile making sure my HR didn't spike over 160. I ran mile 19 with a little less effort making sure I caught my breath but by the end of that mile but still brought it in faster than the plan.

On miles 20 and 21 combined came in about 10 seconds below pace plan and then finally at mile 22 I decided it was time to really start dropping the hammer! Since I started at the very back of 600 runners I had been passing people all throughout the race. Beginning at mile 20 I started looking for people in front of me and started picking them off one by one. I had only had one (pony tail) guy pass me the entire race. Well I caught back up with him about mile 20 and blew past him like he was standing still (maybe he was, I don't actually remember :-). As he ran past me earlier in the race I yelled to him, "Hey...they don't allow passing in this race!" I don't think he thought it was funny but I sure did when I passed him :-) Miles 22 thru 26 were something like this compared to pace plan: -30, -18, -15, -27, -48 and the last .2 (2.6 but Garmin) -25. My fastest mile was mile 26 @ 7:10 and the last .2(.26) was a 6:24 pace.

When I finished the race I just stopped, breathed a few deep breaths and walked away like I had just finished a good training run. Today, two days later, I feel I could go out and resume my regular training. I have no blisters, sore joints or really even muscles. I really do believe I left quite a bit on the course but I'm really glad to have run this race the way I did. Now I have something reasonable to aim for in the future. My plan for the summer is to work on speed work and cycle a lot. I believe I only have a couple of more years to improve so I better make the best of those couple of years! :-)

24th out of 601 Runners  -  1st in 50-54 Age Group

Thanks JG for the specific training advice and thanks DerHammer, SlowJoe, Tom and all my other friends for encouraging me along the way.

1 Thessalonians 5:11

So continue encouraging each other and building each other up, just like you are doing already.

SEE YOU IN BOSTON .... Wooo...Hooo...!!!

The Army Marathon
4/21/2013
Mile	Time	HR	HR %
1	8:05:00	158	85%
2	7:51:00	154	82%
3	7:49:00	150	79%
4	7:32:00	150	79%
5	8:03:00	152	80%	7:52:00
6	7:37:00	153	81%
7	7:39:00	151	80%
8	7:35:00	149	78%
9	8:04:00	149	78%
10	8:01:00	151	80%	7:47:12
11	7:48:00	150	79%
12	7:37:00	151	80%
13	7:51:00	151	80%
14	7:48:00	151	80%
15	7:41:00	152	80%	7:45:00
16	7:43:00	153	81%
17	7:47:00	153	81%
18	8:34:00	155	82%
19	7:42:00	154	82%
20	7:44:00	156	83%	7:54:00
21	7:39:00	159	85%
22	7:38:00	161	87%
23	7:36:00	164	89%
24	7:27:00	165	89%
25	7:20:00	169	92%	7:32:00
26	7:10:00	172	94%	101:32:00
26.2	1:14:00	177	97%	99:49:00
Total	3:22:56	155	82%
Pace	7:44
Age Place:	1 / 40
49Âș - 60Âș, 75% Humidity, 14-18 mph wind
Notes: No Bonk! My Garmin measured 26.26 miles. 1th in age division, 24th overall - 601 Runners.

6 mile @ 8:20 pace.

Legs feel normal.  

20 fast miles and then 7 slow miles on the road bike today. This is only the third day I've ridden my bike this year. Definitely different muscles used in cycling and running. :-)

4/28/2013 (Evening)
Miles	Time	Speed	HR	HR %
9.5		18.5	141	73%
9.5		18	143	74%
7	Slow w/Sarah
26	Total	18.3	142	74%
Miles		Speed
Rode to Martindale to feed horses, then rode small loop w/Sarah very slow.

Proverbs 31:10-31

An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar. ...

My original plan was to just run 6+ but when I got the the 4+ mile turn I decided to run Smallville and add anoter 3 miles. I think my legs feel fine/normal. My plan is to start my "5K to Boston" training next week.

4/30/2013
Mile	Time	HR	HR %
1	8:22:00	135	69%
2	8:24:00	143	74%
3	8:07:00	140	72%
4	8:44:00	142	74%
5	8:46:00	144	75%
6	8:26:00	143	74%
7	8:25:00	143	74%
8	8:21:00	143	74%
9	8:30:00	147	77%
Total	76:05:00	142	74%
Pace	8:27:13
Where Run - Small Loop + Smallville
Weather - 65 degrees. 100% Humidity, 62% Dew Point
Target: Recovery HR (142)

Ephesians 5:16-17

Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.